Dale & Martha Cox

By J. Bryan Wasson

It was December, 1972. I had accepted the position of Chief of Police in Bowie, Texas. The plan was for me to move to Bowie and batch for a while; Shirley and the girls remained in Midland until the end of the current School Christmas break. Earlier in the month, Shirley and I made a trip to Bowie to bring some of the necessities of life and to locate a place for me to stay while I was about the business of house hunting.

We learned that Mrs. Moody on Strong Street owned rent property and might have a vacancy. We crossed the railroad from Wise street to locate Strong Street. It was Second Monday Week end and it was difficult to find a parking place near Mrs. Moody’s house due to the parked cars. It looked as if we were in a big city. The first words out of Mrs. Moody’s mouth were related to the Second Monday traffic and the words were not kind.

I rented a small house from Mrs. Moody that was located behind her house. There were a number of other apartments and small houses on the property. I moved in to the little house and Shirley returned to Midland to await the end of the School year. Things started out great, but the weather changed and became extremely cold.

One of the first places of business that I was drawn to was Gibson’s Discount Store. My uncle, Robert Sterling, who had lived with us during my childhood in Abilene, had started working For Gibson’s while he had been in high school. He had become Manager of two Gibson stores then promoted to the Corporate Headquarters in Seagoville, Texas. He later owned three Gibson Stores and was a good friend of the Strike family who owned the Bowie store and other Gibson stores. I had come close to growing up in a Gibson store so I guess it was sort of a natural attraction.

One of the first people I met in that Gibson store was a hairy legged guitar picker named Dale Cox. I did not know he was a guitar picker at the time, however.

It was getting cold in Bowie, Texas and my wife was in Midland. I was therefore getting cold and hungry and nearly getting burned out on Dairy Queen hamburgers. I was very happy when Dale invited me to the Gibson Christmas party. It was a chance to get food other than hamburgers. At the Christmas party, I met Dale’s wife Martha. I immediately made friends with Dale and Martha.

It was at this Christmas party that I learned Dale was a guitar player. He had a Yamaha guitar and was part of the entertainment at the party. I enjoyed the fellowship and the food at the Christmas party. It was not long before Dale and Martha invited me to another Christmas party. I think it was the Chamber of Commerce that was having this party. It was not long before a lot of people in Bowie were inviting the new Chief of Police to a lot of Christmas parties. This was fine with me. I don’t make a very good bachelor. Bologna sandwiches and hamburgers are the main stays of my diet when my wife is not around; therefore these Christmas parties were a life saver for me.

As December progressed, the north wind started blowing and it got much colder. A Texas blue norther came in. That little house on Strong Street was not very well insulated. The wind blew in through the cracks and even the cracks had cracks. The water froze up and I could not even take a bath. I decided to start looking for a permanent place to live.

I located Mrs. Major on Lindsay Street. She owned a number of rent houses. She had a very nice frame house directly across the street from her home that would soon be vacant. She told me that she had someone on her list of possible tenants that she planned to rent the house to. After she listened to my sad story, I think she started feeling sorry for me. She said, “I think that you need a place to live worse than these other folks I had in mind.” She rented the house at 704 Lindsay to me.

I moved into the house where we remained until we purchased a house out on highway 101. I was still “batching” and it was still cold, but there was heat in the house and I had running water. Larry King, who had been Acting Chief of Police, loaned me a bed frame and a mattress. We had brought sheets, a pillow, blankets and a quilt from Midland. I was in good shape.

Gordon Heard offered to loan me a refrigerator, but I declined his kind offer. There were some shelves in the attached garage. I just used the garage for a refrigerator. The only problem with that arrangement was that the milk froze solid a couple of times. I would have to bring it in the house and thaw it out before I could drink it.

When Shirley and the girls arrived in Bowie, my batching days were over for the time being. Dale and Martha Cox become our closest friends in Bowie. We consider them to be our first Bowie friends.

We spent much time in the Cox home and Dale and Martha spent much time at the Wasson house. I had a Gibson Hummingbird guitar, Dale had his Yamaha and while the wives were talking about what ever it is that women talk about, Dale and I were in the living room, “picking and grinning.” It was hard for us to get serious about our music because we spent much time just having fun and acting goofy. We developed this thing that we called, “our song.” We would each get two or three frets off the proper place and just start doing chords and making runs between the chords. We would not even start at the same fret. If Dale started out with a G chord on the wrong fret, I started out with a C chord on a different wrong fret. It sounded horrible, but it was fun. We even did this when we were entertaining at some function that was supposed to be in a somewhat serious mode. I had no idea that anyone else would ever come up with such a thing. However, not long ago, I was watching TV and a very well known professional musician did exactly that same thing. I am not sure, but I believe it was Roy Clark.

Dale and I became sort of an entertainment group. We entertained for the Rotary Club, the Lions Club and the Kiwanis Club. We were part of every annual Bowie Band Show. If some one wanted guitar pickers, we were it. I remember playing for some event that was conducted in what was then known as The Administration Building at Pelham Park. This is building is now known as The Bowie Senior Citizens Center. A stage was set up at the back of the building where the kitchen is now located.

Shirley has always said that I take better care of my Gibson Hummingbird guitar than I do her. Things like starting the car and let it warm up on a cold night before putting the guitar in the car. Things like starting the car and turning the air conditioner on to let the car cool off before putting the guitar in the car. Things like always wiping the guitar and the strings down carefully after playing it.

I remember when my Gibson Hummingbird got its’ first two scratches. Dale and I were playing for some event. A flat bed trailer had been pulled in next to the building to use as a stage. It was at the old school building that is now the Administration Building for the Bowie Independent School District. We were about to take a break. I put my guitar in the case and I did not do a very good job of placing it. The latches on the lid of the case were open. I closed the lid and “bang”, the latches dug into the top of my guitar and it had earned its’ first two battle scars.

Dale later joined a Southern Gospel singing group called, “The Journeymen.” At the time the only guitar he had was the Yamaha dreadnought acoustic. He needed an electric guitar. I had a cheap Japanese made solid body electric guitar that I had purchased during the time we lived in Hamlin. I loaned this guitar to Dale. He used it for two or three years before purchasing an electric Gibson Simi-hollow body.

In 1986, I went to work as a Special Agent/Safety Investigator for the U.S. Department of Transportation. We came back to Bowie on vacation each year. One of the first places we went was Dale and Martha’s house. At the Cox house it was necessary to do a little guitar playing and singing. I did not bring a guitar home with me, but Dale always had a house full of guitars. He had even acquired a Gibson Hummingbird while we were gone.

I was always asked to sing at First Baptist Church in Bowie when we came home for vacation. Sometimes there was a guitar available, but not always. On one occasion, Dale was working his present job out of state. Martha loaned me Dale’s Gibson electric guitar for that occasion.

After 6 years in South Carolina, we were transferred to Arkansas. I retired from the U.S. Department of Transportation in 1996. We remained in Arkansas until Shirley could draw her Social Security. We returned to Bowie in August of 1999.

Due to Dale’s job, we do not get together as often as I would like but, maybe he will retire one of these days and we can do lots of “picking and grinning.”

An Unwanted Tetanus Shot

By J. Bryan Wasson

I have been playing the guitar for most of my life. I also sing a little. In my younger days, I played my guitar and sang in numerous churches as well as entertaining at various social gatherings. During our years in South Carolina, I could always be found every Friday and Saturday night at a place called, Bills Music Store and Pickin’ Parlor. The place was set up for a number of musical groups to play at the same time in little cubby holes created by portable walls much like the cubicles found in many modern offices. Most of the groups. played bluegrass music. Two groups played classic country music. I was always in one of the two groups that played the old time classic country music. On one Saturday night per month, a concert was held. Each participant could do two songs.

I still play and sing in my church on occasion. Most of my music however is limited to a weekly Friday night jam session at the Bowie Senior Citizens Center. A group of musicians and singers sit in a big circle and each person in turn does a song. The music is a mixture of gospel and classic country. On occasion there is a little bit of rag time music. We also recently had a barber shop quartet. Many senior citizens from the area come to be entertained by this event.

On a recent Friday night, I invited a long time friend, Doctor, Bernie H. “Doc” Roberts a retired Veterinarian to attend the jam session. He enjoyed it so much that he has ordered himself a guitar.

This visit with “Doc” Roberts brought back a memory of a rather humorous although somewhat painful incident that happened many years ago. I recently asked “Doc” if he remembered the incident. He said that he did not remember it. Considering the number of animals he has treated over the years that fact is not surprising.

I lived on the outskirts of Bowie, Texas and had a pasture full of all kinds of critters including horses, mules, donkeys, sheep, goats, chickens as well as a couple of dogs and number of “barn” cats. Owning this many animals creates a need for the occasional and sometimes frequent services of a Veterinarian.

I had a colt that from the time he was a few days old, loved to run full speed from one end of my pasture to the other. A few feet from the fence at the other end of the pasture, he would apply the brakes and slide to a stop, often within inches of the barbed wire fence. He would then turn around and repeat the process. The colt repeated this process many times each day while his mother calmly grazed.

One day when the colt was about 6 months old, he did not apply the brakes soon enough and his chest hit the barbed wire fence at the far end of the pasture. I knew the wound would require some stitches so I called the Veterinary Clinic where “Doc” Roberts was a partner. Soon “Doc” arrived at my little “Ponderosa Ranch” to take care of this matter.

I must explain that “Doc” is one of those folks who use their hands to make all kinds of gestures while talking. If you tied the hands of this type of person behind their backs, they would not be able to say a word.

I held the colt by the halter shank while “Doc” took the sutures. After suturing the long jagged wound, “Doc” said that a Tetanus shot would be required. As he filled the syringe, “Doc” continued talking and using his hand gestures. All of the sudden and to my great surprise, I found the hypodermic needle buried in my arm nearly to the hilt.

At first, I think “Doc” was as surprised as I was but then calmly; he looked at me and said, “Ordinarily after a puncture wound like that, I would recommend that you go the Bowie Clinic and get a Tetanus shot, however, in this case it will not be necessary because you just had one.”

Note: Dr. B.H. “Doc” Roberts passed away January 20, 2006

Nov. 8, 2004, JBW

This article has preaviously been published in The Brayer, Official publication of The American Donkey and Mule Society (ADMS).

An Unwanted Bronc Ride

By J. Bryan Wasson

I have probably told this tale before, but this time I hope to put a little different twist on it. My home town, Abilene, Texas is known as a university town. It has three universities; they are Hardin Simmons University, Abilene Christian University and McMurrry University. At the time period of this story two of them; McMurry and Abilene Christian had not yet reached university status and were colleges. At the same time there was a stable north of Abilene known as Elm Creek Stables. Elm Creek Stables had a nice little arena and was the site of weekly armature rodeos as well as occasional play days. As this story unfolds, I will explain the part that Elm Creek Stables played in this little tale.

In those days as well as at the present, two annual events that the locals term as major events occur in Abilene. These are the West Texas Fair and Rodeo and the Hardin Simmons University Rodeo. Hardin Simmons is known as “The Cowboys.” It is well known for the famous Hardin Simmons six white horses and the Cowboy Band. The Cowboy Band and the Six White Horses have performed all over the world. Today the Six White Horses are ridden by six HSU female students dressed in white western clothing. To be selected as a rider of one of the six white horses is considered to be a high honor. I do not know, but suspect that there are alternates in the event that any one girl might be unavailable for some specific scheduled event. In those days there were five female HSU student riders and one male non student rider. He was known as Sheriff Will Watson who rode a white horse named Bear. To the best of my knowledge, he had never been a sheriff so I don’t know how he obtained this title. I believe that he organized the Six White Horses group for HSU.

What is now known as the Hardin Simmons Stables and Rodeo Arena was once known as the Hardin Simmons Riding School and was located on the property now occupied by the HSU Chappell and the President’s residence.

At the time of this story, I was in the Paint Horse business. My little remuda consisted of one Paint stallion, a number of Paint mares, some heavy with foal and some with foals at their side, one Appaloosa mare, one Mammoth Jennet and one brown mare mule.

A friend of mine called me and said he “had been asked to put together an all paint horse group for the up coming Hardin Simmons rodeo parade.” He had Elm Creek Stables leased at the time. He wanted to know if I would participate. I sure did not trust my paint stallion to be ridden in a parade and I also did not want to ride any of my Paint mares in a parade. I did not believe that an Appaloosa mare, a Mammoth Jennet or a brown mare mule would be suitable for such a group. Any of the three would stick out like a sore thumb in a group of paint horses. If the brown mare mule had been paint, I would gladly have ridden her in the parade. Looking back, I guess I could have painted some big white spots on her.

I told my friend that although I owned many Paint Horses that I did not have anything to ride. He said, “I will take care of that.”

On the day of the rodeo parade, I went to the area for the parade to line up with my saddle in the car. I found my friend there with a trailer full of paint horses. He showed me a big paint mare that he had brought for me. She was good looking, but a little on the drafty side.

The plan was that after the parade we would load all of the horses in trailers and go to Elm Creek Stables for a big barbeque. In Texas, barbeques always go hand in glove with rodeos. After the barbeque, the plan was to load the horses again and haul them to the Hardin Simmons Rodeo grounds and ride as a group in the grand entry.

After I had my fill of sliced barbequed beef, I saw that the arena was full of riders riding around in circles. We had about an hour to kill before time to load the horses again so I thought I would join them. I mounted the big paint mare and headed toward the arena. Just as I rode through the open gate into the arena, the big mare put her head between her front feet and exploded. I did not get bucked off, but I was lucky. I turned the mare out of the arena and went to locate my friend. I told him about the explosion that occurred as soon as the mare entered the arena. He started laughing. He then told me that this mare was one of the horses used in the bareback and saddle bronc riding for the weekly rodeos.

I decided that all arenas would look alike to this mare and that as soon as we rode through the gate at the Hardin Simmons Arena she was likely to explode again. I might not be as lucky the next time.

I told my friend that there would be one less rider for the group in the Grand Entry that night. I unsaddled the big paint mare, threw my saddle in my car and headed for home.

05-29-08, JBW
Copyright 2008 © by J. Bryan Wasson

This article has previously been published in The Brayer, offical publication of the American Donkey & Mule Society (ADMS)

The C.W. Allmand Pony Farm

By
J. Bryan Wasson

When I joined the Abilene (Texas) Police Department in 1954, one of my fellow officers was J.O. Gill. It was through J.O. Gill that I met his step-father, C.W. Allmand. At the time I met C.W. Allmand, he raised both registered and grade Shetland Ponies, Hackney ponies and miniature mules on his Pony Farm at Ovalo, Texas. Ovalo is also the home of western entertainer and recording artist Jean Prescott. Ovalo is located on highway 83 a few miles south of Abilene. The Allmand family had moved from Grassbur to Ovalo in 1948.

My friend Melvin Faircloth who lives south of Abilene on Highway 36 in Callahan County has a much earlier recollection of C.W. Allmand. His first recollection of C.W. Allmand was in 1936 when as a small child his family moved from the Shep community to Grassbur in a wagon pulled by a team of horses. Melvin was sitting atop a load of furniture. They stopped at the store owned and operated by C.W. Allmand and his wife Margie. Mr. Allmand came out and gave Melvin a great big red apple.

In addition to the Pony Farm, C.W. Allmand also owned the general store at Ovalo. At that store, you could purchase groceries, feed, seed, fertilizer, hardware and anything from horse shoes to ice cream.

Although I had been a horse owner since about age 7, I had not developed a strong interest in donkeys, mules and hinnies until I was in the 7th grade. In about 1957, I went into the Shetland pony business, breeding and showing Shetland Ponies. When I went into the Shetland business, my knowledge of showing Shetlands was zero. It was then that J.O. Gill introduced me to C.W. Allmand. Both C.W. Allmand and J.O. Gill taught me the ins and outs of showing Shetlands.

The first Shetland mare I purchased was a paint named Patches. Patches resulted in my interest in Paint horses, which led to my going into the Paint horse business. I became very active in the establishment of the American Paint Quarter Horse Association which later merged with the American Paint Stock Horse Association into what is now the American Paint Horse Association.

It was while I was in the Shetland business that I purchased my first donkey, a young jennet that I named Jenny Lou. I had considered setting up a pony ride as an adjunct to my pony showing business. I had noticed that many pony rides contained at least one donkey and that the donkey seemed to control the speed of the pony ride as well as serving as the brakes for the pony ride. No matter what loud noise or distraction, the ponies could not turn that ride wheel faster than the speed of the donkey. The donkey also seemed to have a calming effect on the ponies.

I made frequent trips with J.O. Gill to the C.W. Allmand Pony Farm at Ovalo. It was there that C.W. Allmand introduced me to his miniature jacks and his mini-mules. C.W. owned numerous two wheeled carts, buggies and wagons. He often hitched up a team of his little mules and sometimes even a 4-up hitch and off we would go for an afternoon drive. My memory is a little fuzzy, but I think sometimes even a 6-up hitch of his little mules were hitched to a wagon. These visits to the Allmand Pony Farm whetted my appetite for donkey and mule ownership.

Sometime after we moved away from Abilene, C.W. Allmand switched from raising Shetlands to Miniature horses, Mediterranean donkeys and pygmy goats.

C.W. Allmand passed away passed away January 9, 1998 J.O. Gill passed away October 26, 2001.

Not long ago while visiting our longtime friends, Melvin and Ginger Fairclothwho live in Calahan County south of Abilene, we passed through Ovalo. This brought back many fond memories of the C.W. Allmand Pony Farm. I greatly miss C.W. Allmand, J.O Gill and all the great times I had with them.

Sept. 26, 2006, JBW
© Copyright 2006, J. Bryan Wasson

Previously published in The Brayer magazine

Arizona Bill

By J. Bryan Wasson

My entire working career was divided between military service and law enforcement. These two activities merged into one career. My military law enforcement led to a career in civilian law enforcement. After release from active duty I remained in the Reserve and most Reserve assignments were in the field of law enforcement. The sum total of military service was 42 years. My last 7 year military assignment was as a Crime Prevention Officer assigned to Headquarters U.S. Army Health Services Command at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

My hobby is scrapbooking. At present three large scrapbooks are devoted to my military career and other military items of interest to me. This leads me back to Arizona Bill. I was looking through one of my military scrap books in search of a place for a news paper clipping related to my old Army Reserve Unit, the 490th Civil Affairs Company of Abilene, Texas which is currently deployed to Iraq.

Browsing through the scrapbook, I came across an article I wrote for The Brayer back in 1984 along with a photo. The article was about Arizona Bill and contained a photo of Bill mounted on his donkey, Tiperray. I loved the two museums located at Fort Sam Houston and visited them often. It was on a visit to the Fort Sam Houston Military Museum that I was first introduced to Arizona Bill and Tiiperray. I must mention at this time that the Fort Sam Museum listed Tiperray as a mule, when in fact, he was a donkey. I guess everybody has the right to be wrong now and then, including this wonderful museum.

With a little bit of editing to the original article, I would like to repeat the 1984 story: Raymond Hatfield (Arizona Bill) Gardner was an extremely colorful character. At one year of age he was kidnapped by Comanche and traded to the Sioux for 9 ponies, 8 blankets and 2 girls. It was in later life that he received his nickname, Arizona Bill as a result of military campaigns against the Apache in Arizona.

He served as a scout for the Union Army during the Civil War. He later served four more enlistments in the Army as a Scout. He also was a Pony Express rider, a prospector, and worked in the Buffalo Bill Cody Wild West Show.

Arizona Bill frequently visited Fort Sam Houston in his travels. He later settled down at Fort Sam Houston and became a familiar sight around the post. In 1935 he was given permission to live on any Army Post by Major General Johnson Haygood, 8th Corps Commander. (I must note that I once wore the 8th Corps shoulder patch on my Army uniform.) Bill frequently slept in the Artillery Post stables at Fort Sam along with his donkey Tiperray.

At his death in 1940, no record of Bill’s military service could be located. As a result he was buried in a civilian cemetery. In 1976 some of his friends searched for and found his service records and arranged for his reburial in the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery with full military honors. MSG (Retired) George Miller was responsible for searching for and finding the lost Service Records of Raymond Hatfield Gardner (Arizona Bill).

Mr. John M. Manguso, Director of the Fort Sam Houston Military Museum assisted me by providing background information and a photograph of Arizona Bill. I do not know if Mr. Manguso is still the Director of the Museum, but suspect he has retired by now. Again, I express my appreciation to Mr. John M. Manguso for his assistance in my research on Arizona Bill.



10-23-03, JBW